Telmed health insurance

Telmed: Save premiums with the telemedicine insurance model

If you want to save premiums on your Swiss basic insurance, you can choose from various alternative insurance models. With the Telmed model, insured persons first contact a medical advice centre by telephone. This will draw up a treatment plan and recommend a visit to the doctor or hospital if necessary. In this way, up to 20 percent of the standard rate can be saved.

How the Telmed model works

If you opt for the alternative telemedicine insurance model, you undertake to call a specified medical advice centre before each visit to a doctor or hospital. The call is free of charge. You describe your problem to the medical staff on the hotline, who will then give you a treatment recommendation.

Depending on the health insurance company, the models have names such as Callmed, TelCare, TelDoc or Primatel and differ in their conditions. There are three variants:

• Variant 1: The counselling centre makes a recommendation, but you are not bound by it. You can therefore still go to a doctor of your choice after the telephone call. The MedCall tariff of Visana, for example, follows this model.
• Variant 2: You contact the initial consultation centre by telephone and obtain a treatment plan. You are bound by the instructions of the counselling centre, but there is a free choice of doctor. However, if the physician believes that the visit was unnecessary, you will not be reimbursed. This is the case, for example, with the TelDoc model of Visana and the Callmed tariffs of various insurers.
• Variant 3: You are bound by the instructions of the initial consultation centre, and the choice of doctor is also restricted, for example to your family doctor or a group practice. This model includes the Primatel (family doctor) tariffs of various health insurance companies.


Please read the exact terms and conditions of your chosen model carefully. If you do not adhere to the specifications of your health insurance, it may refuse to cover the costs.

Behaviour in emergencies

In medical emergencies, you do not have to contact the telephone helpline first, but can directly consult an emergency doctor or a hospital. However, you must make up the telephone call within a certain period of time.

Your advantages with the Telmed model

For the telemedicine model you get a high discount for your basic insurance. Depending on your health insurance, you can save up to 20 percent.

You also benefit from the high availability of the telephone initial counselling centres. Waiting times are shorter than for an unannounced visit to the doctor and you have to accept fewer time restrictions. For minor health problems, a call to the advice centre can completely replace a visit to the doctor.

For whom is the Telmed basic insurance model worthwhile?

This alternative insurance model is particularly worthwhile if you rarely fall ill or have minor health problems. If you need more complex or more frequent treatments, the standard model of basic insurance is more recommended.


Compare our health insurance companies and find out how much you can save with an alternative insurance model. If you have any further questions, simply contact us. We will be happy to advise you.